CracksNow is Caught Spreading Ransomware

CracksNow who had trusted status from many torrent sites, has now been banned from several torrent sites after he was repeatedly found distributing the malware bundled with his uploads.

According to TorrentFreak, people complained that the files they downloaded were found containing GandCrab ransomware and other malware that can do severe damage to computers.

GandCrab is a widespread ransomware which encrypts all files on an infected system and then blackmails the victim to pay a ransom in bitcoin (digital currency) to unlock them.

The ransomware was being distributed via a massive spam campaign that leveraged phishing emails, containing an attached Microsoft Word document to deliver the malware.

“He was banned by myself because I found ransomware in his uploads. I also checked the same uploads from him on a couple other torrent sites and got the same results. I immediately alerted their staff about it so they could investigate and take appropriate action, which they did,” the 1337x admin told TF.

“I must admit that it is rare for a trusted uploader of this caliber to go rogue. It’s normally new guys that have the infected files. CracksNow was a trusted uploader and had been warned in the past but only for misdemeanors. To the best of our knowledge, the remaining torrents are ransomware free, but his account is due for removal.”

Since cracks, patches, and key generators more often include malware, Hack Hex advises users to most certainly rely only on trusted sources.